TheSignalEngineer

Certainly a case of never say never. I think it was at New Street where there was a picture of a 123 and 120 leaving for Derby c1963 There were a lot of strange short notice workings at weekends as well as some booked ones. In 1964 there was an evening DMU from Cardiff to Derby. On Saturdays it appears that it worked a Nottingham to Cardiff train.

Was that the date it was introduced to the GWR?

Thinking about the early DMU days, I wondered which route the Scottish 120s would have taken to get to Aberdeen when first built?

I don't know how far north they got on the Midland line before 1969, but when the Cardiff service was transferred from Snow Hill to New Street c1963 some were extended at least as far as Derby. Normally operated by Swindon 4 car sets there is evidence of a Class 120 subbing on a Cardiff - Derby service.

I have 24 seeps which were installed seven years ago. Other than cleaning with IPA the only problems have been two refusing to throw one way. Thet were easily fixed by slackening the fixing screws for a minor tweek to the alignment.

One I took at Bearley Junction in 1981

I think the flask wagon is one of these, behind a Black 5 in 1965 R0362 - Wellington (Salop) by Bill Wright, on Flickr

It certainly appeared in the Tweedie and Lascelles book Modern Railway Signalling which appeared in the 1920s. I think Crewe may even have been 'rolling their own' in LNWR days.

Apologies for regurgitating an old post but this is the sort of thing from a 1955 picture is what I try to do.

My layout can be run over a period c1956-60. I have a selection of 16T and 21T wagons varying from pristine to full grot. If all locos running are in the early emblem style then coal trains have a large proportion of wooden wagons and new or lightly weathered steel ones. By the end of the time frame its an occasional wooden one and more weathering.

My Dad was on the ground trying to link up with the Airborne troops. He didn't manage to get there but was at the liberation of Eindhoven during the operations in that area. Sadly I never got the real story of Market Garden from him as he rarely gave any details of what the fighting was like, just a few places he passed through on the way from Sword Beach to the Dutch border.

I regularly saw the Bilston trains from the Banbury area in the early 1960s. These were always hoppers but very varied throughout the train with lots of 1930s ex-PO wagons. I have even seen one photograph of an LNER wooden one included in a train of more conventional types in BR days.

My first Cut'n'shut of an RTR coach was to do an impression of a Cyclops from an Airfix B set coach I bought off the second hand counter display at Beatties above New Street station. One worked behind a 64xx on the Bumble Hole in the latter days of the service. I think it may be lying derelict in the loft, the bogies having been robbed for something else.

Looking around I have found Fowlers at Birminham Snow Hill, Clapham Junction, Loughborough Junction, and Hither Green as well as the usual St Pancras and Widened Lines locations. Staniers appeared as far apart as Barking and Swansea, Afon Wen and Leeds, but surely the most far flung must have been 40150 which was pictured at Perth, Inverness and Thurso in 1960/61

I think these could become a model like the Ivatt 2-6-2T or GWR Prairies, going through many variations over a number of years. Twenty Fowlers had condensing gear for the Midland division London services and a few carried push-pull gear for a while. The Staniers were more numerous, carrying three different boilers and two types of chimney, although I have not seen any with push-pull gear, did any get it? The Staniers also travelled widely having been noted over most of the LMS system from Bath to Blair Atholl, London, Wales and northern England.

Between 1923 and 1932 the LMS built 1305 Vestibule Open 3rds and 90 BTOs. From 1933 to 1939 they added 664 and 189 respectively followed by another 350 BTOs in four lots from 1945 so we are talking 2319 TOs and 279 BTOs. They already have the design work done for the D1904 which was used for the Coronation Scot conversions and IIRC one of the episodes of the Engine Shed had an early sample with standard roof vents rather than the pressure ventilation cowl. Regarding the P3 Driving Trailer Conversion they would need a suitable loco as the only ones available at the moment are made by Bachmann. That would mean doing either an LMS 3P 2-6-2T or a BR 84000, which could be a spin off from the work already done on the 78000

I was waiting for Dapol to do a 4mm version of a panelled GWR Auto Coach to alternate with the Flying Banana on the branch local. I already have W8, W14, W22, a Gloucester Bubble Car, and two Hawksworth Auto Coaches, a no topfeed 14xx (modified Airfix) and a Stafford Road 64xx. The services my layout is based on used all of these when I was a child but the earliest I remember before the 122s arrived was a 70 footer of early 1900s vintage.

Well, for a start there are some Catfish hoppers on the go. I'm collecting parts to upgrade the Palethorpes vans to the correct length with a decent chassis and to do the 50ft bogie versions. I have donors and etches ready for Gresley Open Brake 3rds to go in an excursion rake, I've already done one open 3rd. An LMS 57ft Buffet Car is just waiting for the interior to be built Donors and etches in hand for an RCAF conversion of a Gresley Sleeper Ditto a GWR 60ft 9-compartment third of the type similar to the Airfix B set LMS Period 2 and Period 3 Pull-Push conversions done Periods 1,2 and 3 LMS Open stock done. Rivet body and cupboard door 16T minerals done. The kit stash includes some decent bogie bolsters, a proper length LMS Cattle wagon, a Mica B which will become a Tevan and a Cravens Class 129 DPU. As for Bachmann, I also did the PMV, CCT and Tube wagons just before they were announced. I got fed up of waiting for the 74xx so I made one from a 64xx, and I've done a Brake Composite and Corridor Third from the old LMS panelled Brake Third and Corridor Composite. Projects in design or under consideration include a Maunsell RFO to Buffet conversion, Midland Tar Distillers tanks based on Bachmann Anchor mount and Oxford Rail donors, some proper size LMS 12T vans and accurate Iron Ore hoppers.

Whatever they announce it will include something I have just built or have ready to start. I was doing the panelling on my Siphon G ex Ambulance car conversion whilst Accurascale were announcing theirs. My previous record included three Coke Hoppers and Van C from Hornby and the Pillbox Brake and Plate wagons from Bachmann. Hornby could always do an LMS Period 3 Open third based on the Coronation Scot version since I have already done a rake of LMS Open stock or they could annoy me by producing some Gresley ones that are currently awaiting doing..

I don't know how much VR they are but my grandsons do play some, I think on XBox.

Part of our instant gratification culture.

Over 50 years ago when some of these debates were starting to raise their heads a few of the girls in a club I belonged to suggested that for our End of Year Revue the lads should do a dance on stage to open the show much like the Tiller Girls at the Palladium. Six of us took up the challenge, dressed in Drag and did the Can-Can. It went down great with the audience but I will safely say it was physically one of the hardest thing I have ever done, and that includes such antics as backpacking the Pennine Way or cycling 1000 miles in 20 days on a camping trip.

In my opinion, (other opinions are available), the ECB has totally lost the plot as far as long forms of the game are concerned. Match winning attitudes are only developed by playing matches. I have seen plenty of youngsters on the tennis court who can play every shot in the book when hitting with each other but are totally incapable of putting them together in the right order in a match situation. In England cricket we need to get back to playing the County Championship as the main competition, not just a few games at the start and finish of the season. Part of the idea of making it a four-day game was to help players with their technique in preparation for Test Matches. That is a total waste of time when you then give players a Central Contract and then don't let them play for their counties between Tests.

Probably just happening because of the way the game is played now. Anything above 20 overs a side is being destroyed by pandering to TV schedules and wanting a complete match to be fitted into a three hour slot. Tennis has suffered from the same syndrome with tie-breaks, one point deuce and a ten-point game at one set all in doubles.

.................. a bit like a Heritage Railway?